Terror on the mind street: fear, fear appeal and solution

Watch television or open a magazine or log on to Internet at your risk. An exposure can cause anxiety, fear and feeling of inadequacy. Consider what happens when your guards are down and you come in contract with marketing communication:

•  Kent and Acquguard: get scared of bacteria in water that you drink
• Autocop central locking: perpetuate fear of car theft
• Bournvita and Horlicks: fear of inadequate nourishment
• HDFC Life insurance: loss of dignity and self respect
• Honda and Yamaha generators: fear of power failure
• Sunsilk: anxiety about  hair
• Fair & Lovely and Fair & Handsome: fear of rejection
• Anchor switch: danger of an electric shock
• Quick Heal: fear of viruses in computer and mobiles
• Lakme Sunscreen: fear of skin damage from sun exposure
• Ponds: fear of ageing
• Godrej hair dye: fear of grey hair
• I Pill: fear of unwanted pregnancy
• Colgate Total: fear of bacteria build up in mouth
• Close up: fear of bad breath
• Nivea: fear of under arm dark spots
• Dettol and Lifebuoy hand sanitizer: fear of germs on your hands
• VLCC: fear of flab
• Hit: fear of mosquito bite
• Nutrogena face wash: fear of pimples on your face
• Dove: fear of smelly underarms
• Kurl On: fear of back problem
• Lysol: fear of germs on the floor
• All Clear: fear of dandruff
• Krack: fear of cracked heels

And the list goes on. Fear is one of the most powerful behavior inducing emotions. Brands rely on fear and anxiety to throw a prospect out of balance. Fear strategy is carefully crafted, too much of fear can switch off the customer and too little  fear may not create an anxious mind. Common to the use of fear appeal are three states: bring something on the surface as a problem, create an enlarged problem perception, trigger anxiety and finally close the loop with the brand as a solution (consider an ad of Samsung phone in which asking for directions is propagated as a problem).

 

Fear is a powerful marketing tool. Lindstrom notes that we avoid fear but yet it holds some kind of attraction (horror movies and crime serials). There is a biological reason for it. Fear increases adrenaline flow sending us into fight or flight mode which in turn releases epinephrine (a hormone), a deeply satisfying sensation. Those areas of brain responsible for processing two emotions of fear and pleasure tend to have considerable overlap. Neuroscientists say fear is far more powerful than reason. The amygdala, which is our fear centre, over rides cortex (centre of logic and thoughts). Why fear works is because under situation of fear or threat the body gets into an automatic mode in which the blood is directed away from brain making us unable to think clearly (making us part stupid) but we remain thoughtful enough to process persuasive suggestion. 

Fear works by something like a partial seizure. We sense danger but do not get scared enough to completely shut down. Quite opposite happens in many social marketing campaigns like cigarettes which fail to influence because the mind is completely seized.

Bikes, Male thing and Statutory Warning

Opinions are important. They constitute fundamental building blocks of brand image.  When opinions turn against a brand or product category they pose serious problems. Consider the following line which I came across painted on different spaces in the state of Uttrakhand (UK):

“Give your son life, not a motorcycle”

What does this statement convey? This is a warning to parents not to allow their son to buy a motor cycle because it may take away his life.  Certainly a biker is vulnerable in the absence of protective case but can a bike actually be a life robbing machine? A bike in itself can’t do that but how it is put to use, definitely can.  There are many instruments or substances which come with a warning. Even an innocent polythene bag used to pack a shirt warms its users to ‘to keep it away from the reach of children’.  Floor cleaners and mosquito spray cans also have similar warnings.  So does the fault lies in a motorcycle or its users and why it is driven in an accident inviting manner.  Why does dangerous driving attract a typical youngster?

The way a product is prescribed to be used and is actually used is tempered by the media influence. The images portrayed often promote dangerous practices (like stunts and rash behavior) and position the rider as desirable.  Brands are positioned on appeals such as thrill, daring, power and sexual attractiveness.  Movies also position the rash and brash with heroism and valorize the negative. The feel good subverts the attention from the reality and fantasy takes over leading to recklessness and rashness. The mandatory warnings like ‘don’t try this at home’ or ‘performed by experts’ are deliberately designed not to capture attention.  The id takes over pushing the superego in to the background.

Motorcycles are male objects. The terms object signifies ‘desire’ and you ride and drive them. Their orchestration at one level works on the pleasure principle and it is always a challenge to try new things out. In many cultures taming a wild horse or facing a beast is what manliness all about. But urban centres do not have coliseums but certainly have roads. The brawn is how you ride.  How daring, how noisy (modified silencers), how one of a kind (break rules). Cars are like cows, silent, move in herds and are docile, where as the bike is a new beast.

For the urban youth these rites of passage into manhood or shows of male strength don’t exist but the desire to go through the same does not vanish; these are rooted in the collective subconsciousness.

Alcohol companies promote responsible drinking (‘don’t drink and drive’, ‘champions drink responsibly’).  This way both industry and consumer interest could be guarded; Bajaj once ran a ‘hamara Bajaj’ campaign which tired to touch emotional chord by focusing on Indian virtues. If promotions directly or indirectly encourage riders into dangerous biking, it is time a campaign is a launched to counter such motivation.  Accidents have big econo-social effects. Bottom line considerations need not blind marketers to unintended effects on larger society.

Ethics, Business and Justice

Like life, business also involves dilemmas and conflicts. The line dividing between good and bad and right and wrong often becomes hazy.  Consider the following:

• An advertisement showed a biker jumping the traffic signal and being chased by the policeman for the violation only to find that biker was in rush to help a patient.
• Many glossy advertisements of investment products over emphasize benefits but rush through ‘conditions apply’ so fast that nothing can be made of them.
• Many pharmaceutical firms conduct human trials of their drugs on people in poor countries.
• Doctors in hospitals recommend patients to undergo unneeded tests in the name of diagnosis.
• During the time of scarcity businessmen hoard and fleece customer by overcharging.
• Gurus and ‘Babas’ exploit the vulnerable and naïve people by recommending magic remedies.
• Many countries dump their products in order to save livelihood of its citizens but jeopardizing the welfare of the other.

Business happens at the point of intersection when two or more people meet. This simple exchange needs governance mechanism.  In the absence of such a mechanism the fairness of the distributive outcome cannot be achieved.  Fairness in the distribution of outcomes is essential to justice. Ambiguity is a fertile ground for debates.  Establishing the rightness of an action demands justification and it is here various approaches of justice came to play a role. Harvard professor Sandel identified three approaches: welfare, freedom and virtue.

The utilitarian school aims to maximize welfare and seeks greatest happiness for the greatest number.  The costs and benefits of an action become the guiding principle of morality.  The correctness or right of an action is a matter of calculation. So a drug trial on a small number is right if a large number of people could be saved.  

The idea of freedom is linked to justice in libertarian conception. The focus here is on individual rights such a freedom of speech or religious faith. However the others rights to do the same should be respective.  Business in this conception should be left free and liberated from any regulations.  Milton Friedman considers many of the sate activities to be illegitimate infringements on freedom.  There is nothing wrong if a ‘baba’ or guru doles out magic remedies.

The third set of theories view justice linked up with virtue and the good life. Justice is about cultivation of virtue and common good. Justice should promote virtue.  Immanuel Kant proposes that a deed be done because it is the right thing to do irrespective of its consequences. So if an advertiser does not mislead because people will discover misrepresentation, he has done the right thing for wrong reason. This lacks moral worth. Moral worth of an action consists in intention not consequence.  

The rightness of a thing is often subjectively perceived. And this individualized perception can lead to unfair decisions. The ‘way things are done’ may have strong historical justification but may be on weak footing on morality front.  Therefore it is essential that top management creates a culture where that rightness of business decisions is not solely governed by the considerations of top line and bottom line. Utility is not a correct perspective to judge moral worth of things.

HUL, Sustainability, Dry Shampoo and Consumer Values

Given the threat to the planet earth many companies have begun to incorporate sustainability in their vision and mission agenda. Consumers, though in small number now have begun to evaluate their consumption factoring in their effect on environment. On the other hand, many companies have begun to embed sustainability in their business strategy. Environmentally sustainable practices are no longer moral or legal ‘impositions’ rather these make good business sense.
HUL in one such company which has committed itself to sustainability and it seeks to achieve this goal by innovations. The company has undertaken many initiatives at the back end (supply chain and manufacturing) to curtail its environmental footprint. Its eco efficiency programmes are aimed to reduced energy consumption, wastage, and other resources like water. On the front end, the company is focused on developing innovative products to meet its sustainability goals.
Surf Excel Quick Wash reduces the water consumption reducing the need for rinsing clothes less number of times (usually people rinse four times that needs four buckets). Now clothes can be cleaned with only two rinses without compromising the quality of wash. Dry shampoo is another innovative idea in this direction. One approach to saving water is to urge consumers to use less water while shampooing their hair but dry shampoo completely does away with the need to use water. The product comes as a spray which absorbs oils from hair and lends volume.
An innovative product, notwithstanding its merits and technical superiority must ‘make sense’ to customers. A product is an idea codified in a physical form. The acceptability of an idea depends upon how it ‘fits’ in a larger scheme of things where it seeks to find a place. New products often create cognitive and behavioral disruptions which manifest in resistance to adoption. For instance when pressure cooking (pressure cookers) were introduced, for many consumers the idea was unacceptable. It militated against the long held belief the slow cooking produces best taste. Almost similar resistance was faced when cooking gas was introduced. Though gas offered huge advantage over stoves and coal ‘angithi’/ stove but people associated coal cooking to be the best. Even now many people are wary of microwave cooking because ‘waves’ are perceived to be harmful and ‘food cooked is not as tasty’.

HUL is also likely to face similar challenge. Shampoo is used to wash hair and washing and cleaning are intrinsically linked to water. So the idea may clash with long held value system. Theoretically dry shampoo is disruptive in nature- it disrupts the way shampoo category is thought about and also the way shampoo is used. These double disruptions are likely to obstruct acceptance of idea and later call for behavior modification. It is here marketing strategy has a role to play. It must attend to the challenge of reconciling the two discrepant ideas. The transition from double edged blades to twin was much smoother for Gillette but is slightly difficult in case of shaving creams to foam. It took long for microwave brands to make people open to the idea of wave cooking.
The battle for HUL is set in the minds of people. The oxymoronic perception requires reconciliation for this product in order to win consumer acceptance.

Consumption, reference groups and celebrity endorsement

Last week a news item reported that many firms have dropped celebrities from their brand communication campaigns. These include Pepsi Mountain Dew ( Salman Khan), Big Bazaar’s FBB (MS Dhoni and Asin), Fastrack (Genelia D’ Souza), Thums Up ( Akshay Kumar), Netrogena ( Deepika), and Taj Mahal tea ( Chirangda Singh). Yet there are brand which continue to use celebrities in their brand building like Aamir Khan (Hero series Samusng), SRK (Dulux), Aishwarya Rai ( L’oreal), Anushka Sharma ( canon), Nikon ( Priyanka Chopra), Amrish Puri ( JK cements) and Saif Ali Khan ( Royale).
The modern man belongs to the subspecies Homo sapiens. The individual is closely tied to the collective. Accordingly a person belongs (member) to groups such as family, friends or aspire to belong or identify (non member) with like cricketers or film stars. These groups become important for the marketers because of the influence they exert in consumer by shaping their beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviors. It is this influence which makes them hot property for the marketers.
Groups derive their importance from the functions that these perform for consumers: informational, utilitarian and self expressive. In some buying situations deficient consumer knowledge and expertise necessitates search for information from others (a doctor is a good advisor for specialized toothpaste (Sensodyne) or infant products (J&J). In certain cases consumer seek or enjoy group membership by conforming to the approved norms to avoid punishment or disapproval (Leather jacket for HOG membership or certain brand e.g. Ecco shoes for golf playing). People want to express their identities as to who they are and who they are like. People aspire to be like some groups/ individuals which help them enhance their self concept. It is psychological association which makes many consumers to like a brand ( Reid and Taylor- Amitabh Bachchan or Katrina Kaif- Lux).
The basis of reference group influence is the power (as against authority) or capacity to exert control over consumption. The power types include: referent power (based on identification based on admiration- we admire Sachin’s achievements or beauty of Kareena Kapoor); information and expert power (one wonders what Amrish Puri has got to do with JK cement; he is neither knowledgeable nor expert of construction/ Dr Devi Shetty is certainly a good endorser for a heart valve and Hafeez Contractor can certainly influence behavior for a housing or office complex); the human desire for appreciation (reward) and avoid threat or risk leads to certain groups acquiring reward power (‘hey you’re looking gorgeous’- Ponds or a women becoming ravishingly ‘attractive’ in Parachute Body Lotion). Consumer buying is also driven by the motivation to conform to group norms in order to avoid something negative for instance stopping at traffic signal (fines) or wearing formals to a club dinner (admission denied).  
Reference group’s capacity to influence consumer behavior is determined by credibility or trustworthiness because of knowledge and expertise (What is Amitabh Bachchan doing in Nano Clean surface cleaner? Or Sachin Tendulkar in JP Cement?). Attractiveness or identification is another consideration. George Clooney or Pierce Brosnan influences Omega’s target audience based on attraction and identification so is the case with Shah Rukh Khan for Santro. Slice seduces its target customers by calling its drink as ‘aam sutra’ borrowing from the attractiveness of Katrina Kaif.
Brands borrow influence from reference groups to move consumer. Once successful does not mean always successful. The dynamism in the marketing environment at both ends sometimes can upset the brand and endorser fit. This necessitates course correction which can take many forms including discontinuance of endorsement. Remember how Accenture dropped Tiger Wood scandal rocked match mixing involving skipper Azaruddin who endorsed Tissot brand. May be the youth brands like Mountain Dew and Thums Up do not find their endorsers not young enough or match psychographic profile. The long relationship between Nakshtara and Aishwarya Rai broke after her marriage and the brand signed Katrina Kaif as endorser.

Sachin, Politics, Cricket and Brand Prototypicality

Sachin Tendulkar’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha has caused almost everyone from indifferent to intensely involved reacting to this development. And unlike many other nominations to the Upper House which go unnoticed, Sachin has become topic of discussions this time not for some cricketing record but for his new role in the world of politics.

Leaving aside the ‘indifferent’, people with opinion take two opposing positions. One group has welcomed this development and they find nothing wrong with their star playing his new innings at the political stadium. On the other hand, the other group does not find it comforting to see their legend donning a new role in political theatre.

How can this phenomenon be seen from a marketing angle? This seems to be a case of brand extension but with one difference, here the extension decision is not taken by the firm that owns the brand but by an external agency. For instance the decision as to what product categories (spaces or markets or categories), Pepsi brand should get into is a decision choice of PepsiCo not anybody else.  Brands are extended to harness their full potential and make them bigger. This often involves taking them into spaces (categories).  The Dettol brand ventured out of its antiseptic category to toilet soap and hand wash category to become a mega brand. But does it mean that a brand can travel into ‘any’ category in its journey to become a mega brand. Here lies a catch. It may be very difficult to think of Colgate on a category other than toothpaste. This concept is called brand prototypicality. It is how closely a brand is linked to its category. Prototypical brands get intrinsically anchored to their category so much that their alternate conceptualizations become difficult.

Some questions become important in this context. Is Sachin a prototypical cricket (concrete attribute) brand? Is he more about achievement and excellence (abstract attribute)? What is the commitment and liking level of his followers and fan? What associations are linked with the world of cricket and the world of politics in peoples’ minds? Are competencies needed to excel in these two fields same or different?

The opinions are highly divided on this issue. Some people have called this as ‘dirtiest play’ and some think he is used ‘to divert attention from the problems’. Many are concerned that ‘he does not suffer the same fate as another legend’.  One of the voices is said that ‘The kind of person Sachin is we never expected him to take up politics’. Then there are people who have welcomed this development. Many of the former cricket players have expressed their shock and echoed concerns have to how an apolitical person like Sachin plays political game.

These reactions are very similar to how consumers react to a brand extension. Consider Ponds marketing toothpaste or white beauty cream. One simple exercise can reveal why people have reacted to the way they did:

1. List the words associated with politics and politicians.
2. List the words that are associated with Sachin Tendulkar.
3. Now mix these two sets of associations and create a new list.

Now check the third list whether the words/ associations in this list create a harmonious mix (do not militate against each other) or have high degree of harmony.

An inconsistent mix would signal that two concepts, Sachin and politics do not  make a nice cocktail.

Brand, Focus and Sacrifice

If you are not growing someone else is. This phenomenon can be psychologically very discomforting. This relativity in the market gets the managers to be possessed by competition. The Boards which set their eyes glued on the stock prices and market capitalization send memos down the hierarchy to grow and grow fast. The ultimate point of where marketers and customers intersect is a mental spot called brand. Brands create revenue streams and hence are also the growth drivers. One of the shortcut growth strategies is to expand the number of products that a brand offers to the market. But such tinkering with the brand with an eye on the stock market but away from consumer often sows the seeds of decline for the enterprise as a whole. A strong business cannot be built on the foundations of weak brands.
Consider the following:

• When you want to buy a T shirt would you like to go to a Woodland store?
• Would you consider a brand like Jaipan (mixer and grinders) while buying a mobile phone?
• What would be your perception if Bata also sold jeans and formal wear?
• When looking for a perfume, would you like to consider Lee Cooper?
  How about Pepsi selling urban wear?

Branding is about appropriation of an idea which is both relevant and different. The idea should be relevant from the customer perspective and different from competitive angle. Brands are built by establishing a differentiating idea. Consider the following brands and their appropriation of differentiating idea: Band Aid, Dettol, Marlboro, Nike, H&S and Duracell. What makes a brand successful also imposes a constraint. An attempt to increase the revenue by hanging different products on the brand can lead to idea dilution and thereby weaken the brand in prospect’s mind. The market logic often runs counter to the financial logic. How good an idea is to offer vanilla in a Coke bottle or synthetic running shoe in a Woodland store? How about Levis formal wear or a A luxury car from the stable of Maruti Suzuki? Branding success comes from carving out a narrow idea territory in prospect’s mind. It is inappropriate for a brand to transcend this territory. But if a brand does try to jump over, it seriously endangers its strength.

Branding is about focus not spread. Strong brands are built on the principle of sacrifice. Jack Trout suggests that taking everything can be bad for business and giving up can be good. Stretching a brand can erode or damage or dilute the very idea on which brand success is build. Hence firms must learn to sacrifice. Three forms of sacrifice are: product sacrifice, attribute sacrifice and target market sacrifice.

• Some brands have product at the core to their identity. Branding success in these cases is built on a differentiated product. Consider KFC (Chicken), Duracell (alkaline batteries) Indigo (economy travel) and McDonalds (burger).
• At the core of some brands is the pull based on a product attribute. Staying close to such attribute is the reason why these brands remain successful. Consider H&S (antidandruff), Volvo (safety) and Rolex (prestige).
• Then comes target market sacrifice. Brand should stay focused on their target segment an attempt to get new customers from a different segment may alienate brand’s original customers. When Kingfisher name was hung on an economy carrier what effect would it have had on customers true to Kingfisher brand? Consider the effect of Lux (beauty bar for film stars) trying to woo men. Brand must stay true to their target customer.

Are you reminded of brands that suffered because of the violation of the law of sacrifice?